Shuttle picking mechanism



6, 1955 E. PFARRWALLER 2,715,422

SHUTTLE PICKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 29, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN'l ENTOK. EEW/N PFARRWALLEE.

BY /f ATT R/VEK Aug 16, 1955 E. PFARRWALLER SHUTTLE PICKING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1955 IN V EN TOR. Erew/N PF-AEEWALLEK Aug. 16, 1955 E. PFARRWALLER SHUTTLE PICKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 29, 1953 g 16, 1955 E. PFARRWALLER SHUTTLE PICKING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 29, 1953 INVEN'I OR. ER vvnv PFA RR WA LL. 51?.

Aug. 6, 1955 E. PFARRWALLER 2,715,422

SHUTTLE P ICKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 29, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m H f E j yffl.

P INVENTOR. [kW/N B-A APWALLEE.

ATTUKNEK United States Patent SHUTTLE PICKING MECHANISM Erwin Pfarrwaller, Winterthur, Switzerland, assignor to Sulzer Freres, S. A., Winterthur, Switzerland, a corporation of Swimerland Application October 29, 1953, Serial No. 388,959

Claims priority, application Switzerland November 3, 1952 8 Claims. (Cl. 139--145) mechanism having a picking lever connected with one end of and actuated by the torsion spring, the device being driven by the loom motor and comprising a crosshead connected with the other end of the torsion rod spring, the crosshead being adjustably connected with a stationary part of the loom or with a part of the tensioning device so that the end of the torsion spring to which the crosshead is connected can be rotated relatively to the part with which the crosshead is connected for adjusting the initial position of the picking lever.

A portion of the rod spring is preferably surrounded by a tube which is connected with the housing of the shuttle picking mechanism and which has a flange at its free end in which flange the rod spring or the crosshead is revolvably supported, the flange having slots through which bolts extend for connecting the crosshead to the flange. The relative position of the flange and of the crosshead can be changed by manipulating an adjusting screw screwed into the flange and abutting against one of the aforesaid bolts.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself however and additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a diagrammatic perspective illustration of a shuttle picking mechanism according to the invention showing a torsion spring, a device for tensioning the spring, the device being disposed at the portion of the spring to which the picking lever is connected, a release mechanism, and a setting or adjusting device;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the adjusting device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified crosshead arrangement for presetting the torsion spring;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a part sectional side view of a modified shuttle picking mechanism according to the invention in which the rod tensioning means and the release means of the device are separated;

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of the mechanism according to Fig. 6, the section being taken along line VIE-VII in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, the section being taken along line Vlll-Vill of said figure;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, the section being taken along line IX-IX of said figure;

Fig. 10 is a large scale longitudinal section of the crosshead arrangement of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 11 is an end view of Fig. 10 with a portion of the cover plate removed;

Fig. 12 is a side View of the arrangement shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view of a modified rod spring tensioning mechanism for the mechanism according to Fig. 6.

The same numerals designate the same parts in all figures.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a shaft 2 is supported in bearings 3 mounted on a casing l which is connected with the frame of the weaving machine, not shown. The shaft 2 supports a shuttle picking lever 4 which picks the shuttle 11 by means of a picking pin 7 mounted on a slide member 8 and surrounded by a link 6 which is pivoted to the lever 4 by a pin 5. Member 8 slides on a rail 9 which is mounted on casing 1 and guides the pin 7 on a straight course. When the device is in picking position, the head 10 of the picking pin 7 abuts against the rear end of the shuttle 11 which is still in a shuttle lifter 12. Guide teeth 13, which are mounted with a reed 14 on a lay 15, form the picking path when the lay i5 is in rear position, i. e. in the position for inserting a weft thread. The lay i5 is supported and actuated in the conventional manner by conventional means, not shown.

The shaft 2 is hollow and surrounds a torsion rod spring 19. The left end of the latter is provided with knurls 20 cooperating with corresponding knurls in the interior of the shaft 2 to prevent relative rotational movement of member 19 and member 2d.

The right end portion of the spring 19 extends through and is connected with a tensioning tube 86) which is connected with the casing 1 by means of a flange 31. The right end of the rod spring 19 is provided with knurls 20 cooperating with corresponding knurls in a crosshead 82. The latter is revolvable in a flange 83 (Fig. 3) on the tube and is provided with two set screws 84 which are screwed into suitable bores in the crosshead 82 and extend through slots in the flange 33. An adjusting screw 86 is screwed into the flange 83 and is secured against undesired rotation by means of a nut 87.

An arm 22 is connected with the center portion of the shaft 2, the aim being connected by a pin 23 with a link 24 forming part of a toggle joint including a two-arm lever 25. The latter swings about a shaft 26 which is supported by a brake housing 30. The upper arm of the lever 25 is connected with the link 24 by means of a pin 27, the lower arm being fulcrumed to a brake piston 29 by means of a pin 28. The two-arm lever 25 supports a roller 31 following a cam 32 on shaft 33. The latter is rotated by means of a tooth wheel 34 in the conventional manner by the main drive shaft of the loom, the drive shaft being connected with the loom motor by means of a clutch, not shown, in such a manner that the shaft 33 makes a full revolution for each pick.

If the cam 32 has been rotated in the direction of the arrow 40, the toggle joint 24, 25 has moved through its extended position, in which the centers of the pins 23 and 27 and of the fulcrum 26 are in a straight line, into the position shown in Fig. 1 which is the locking position of the device.

The locking position is maintained by a locking lever 37 which is keyed to a shaft 38, the toggle joint resting against noses at the ends of lever 37. During the movement described in the paragraph next above the arm 22 has been lifted and the shaft 2 has been rotated in counterclockwise direction. Simultaneously with the shaft 2 the left end of the torsion spring 19 has also been revolved. Since the right end of the rod spring 19 is held against rotation in the crosshead 82 and the latter is bolted to the flange 83 of the tensioning tube 811, rotation of the shaft 2 has not only effected movement of the picking lever 4 into its left end position, which is the picking position, but has also tensioned the spring 19 which serves as a power accumulator. When the picking lever 4 is in its left end position, the shuttle lifter 12 can move the shuttle 11 into the illustrated picking position by revoiving on a shaft 16 which is eflected by a conventional mechanism connected with the main loom shaft, not shown. The shaft 38 of the lever 37 is supported by a bearing in the casing 1 and is actuated by a conventional mechanism, not shown, for unlocking the device according to the invention for picking the shuttle 11. The de vice is released only when the shuttle 11 is ready for the pick, i. e. when a weft thread has been fed to the shuttle and gripped by the thread clamp 42.

After the nose 41 of the cam 32 has released the roller 31, the toggle joint 24, can be bent by counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 38 and of the locking lever 37. Thereby the upper nose of the lever 37 knocks the joint including the pin 27 to the left until it is so far beyond extended position that the toggle joint 24, 25 collapses.

Bending of the toggle joint 24, 25 by means of the locking lever 37 effects release of the picking force accumulated in the torsion rod 19. Shaft 2 is driven with great acceleration in clockwise direction and the picking force is transmitted from the torsion rod 19 through the shaft 2 to the picking lever 4 mounted on the latter, the picking lever being driven in the same direction as the shaft 2. Consequently, the picking pin 7 drives the shuttle 11 to the right through the guide teeth 13 so that the weft thread gripped by the thread clamp 42 of the gripper shuttle 11 is pulled through the shed. The movement of the lever 25 and thereby of the whole picking mechanism is braked by the brake piston 29 during the last part of the stroke of the picking lever 4.

The picking position of the picking lever 4 is determined by the extended position of the toggle joint 24, 25 which determines the position of the left end of the torsion rod spring 19. In order to adjust the picking force according to the requirements of the fabric to be produced, the screws 84 are loosened and the right screw 54 is lifted or lowered by turning the adjustment screw 56 (Fig. 2) which abuts against one of the screws 84. The screw 86 is thereby screwed farther into or out of the flange 83. The extent of the relative rotation of the flange 83 and of the crosshead 82 is measured on a scale 88 on the flange 83. After making the desired adjustment, the set screws 84 and the lock nut 87 are tightened.

The crosshead 82 comprises a bushing 89 which is rotatable in a bore 91 of the tensioning flange 33 (Fig. 3), affording accurate rotation of the crosshead 82 around the axis of the torsion spring 19.

The arrangement of the picking lever 4 and of the means driven by the loom motor for tensioning the spring 19, including the cam drive 32, the toggle joint 24, 25, and the shaft 2, so that the latter is connected with one end of the spring 19, the other end of the spring 19 carrying the crosshead 82, has the advantage that the picking force produced by the spring 19 can be adjusted while the weaving machine is in full operation. The arrangement of the crosshead 82 outside of the casing 1 makes it possible to determine the picking force while closely watching the run of the shuttles. Without stopping the loom, the picking force can be so adjusted that it is not only sufl'iciently great that the shuttles 11 are propelled through the shed into a shuttle receiving device, but that also the number of picks is performed which is required for different weft materials. The adjustment requires very little time while all parts of the loom are in motion and the efiect of the change of the picking force can be simultaneously observed by watching the run of the shuttles. If the loom must be stopped for adjustment of the picking force, as in conventional arrangements, the effect of the adjustment can only be seen after the loom is restarted and has assumed full speed. With the arrangement according to the invention, the time for setting up the loom is shortened and the economy of the weaving machine is increased.

Instead of arranging the crosshead 82 symmetrically with respect to the rod spring 19, it may be made unsymmetrically in the form of a one-arm lever by omitting the left arm and the left set screw 84 (Fig. 2), proper alignment of the spring 19 being always assured by the provision of the bushing 89.

A modified arrangement of the crosshead is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The torsion rod spring 19 is surrounded by a tube having a socket 106 welded to its right end. The socket has a bore 107 of square cross section for receiving the square 108 at the right end of the rod 19. The tube 105 extends through a bore 110 in the casing 1, a crosshead 111 being welded to the tube. The crosshead is clamped to the casing 1 by means of a ring 113 and bolts 112. The latter extend through slots 114 in the crosshead affording rotation of the latter and pretensioning of the spring 19. The tube 105 is provided with flat surface portions affording application of a suitable key. Upon loosening the bolts 112, the tube 105 and thereby the right end of the spring 19 can be rotated. Adjustment of a desired pretension is facilitated by a scale 116 and a mark 117 provided at the outer rim of the crosshead 111. The scale 116 is cut into an annular member 118 which is rotatable on casing 1 and may be fixed thereto by means of a screw 119. This affords setting of the zero line of the scale 116 to meet the mark 117 when the spring 19 is without tension, so that the amount of pretension can be correctly observed on the scale 116, for example when a new spring is inserted.

For accurate adjustment during operation of the weaving machine the key to be set on the tube 1115 (Figs. 4 and 5) may be propped against the frame of the loom by means of an adjusting screw, or may be connected with the loom frame by means of a tensioning screw.

in the shuttle picking mechanism according to Figs. 6 to 9, the device for tensioning the spring 19 is separate from the means for releasing the picking lever 4.

A tooth wheel is driven by the main shaft of the weaving machine at a speed corresponding to the number of picks per minute. The wheel 12S drives tooth wheels 126 and 127 at the same speed. A shaft 128 carrying wheel 126 also carries an eccentric 129 which actuates a lever 132 by means of a strap 131. Lever 132 is fast on a tube 133 which surrounds the right end of the spring 19 and is provided with a flange 134.

One end of the spring 19 is provided with a square 91 which is inserted in a square bore of a crosshead 93. The latter has a socket 94 which is revolvable in the tensioning tube 133.

The left end of the spring 19 is surrounded by a tube 135 having a square interior portion 136 for receiving a square head 137 of the spring 19. The tube 135, which is revolvably supported at both ends by the casing of the shuttle picking mechanism, is provided with a flange 138 carrying a picking lever 4'. The hub of lever 4' is provided with radial teeth 139 engaging radial teeth on the flange 138. A lever 141 is keyed to the hollow shaft 135 which is connected with a brake piston 143 by means or" a link 142 (Fig. 7) and with a lever 145 by means of a link 144, lever 145 being swingable on a shaft 146 which lever is actuated by a lever 147 carrying rollers following cams 148 and 149 on shaft 155. Lever 145 is provided with an arm 151) abutting against an adjustable abutment 151. The latter is supported by the frame of the loom. The lever 147 has a forked end 152 astride arm 150, one prong abutting against the arm by means of an adjusting screw 153.

The right end of the tube 135 is provided with a small claw 156 (Figs. 6 and 9) which is interposed at much clearance between claws 157 at the left end of the tube 133. Fig. 7 indicates by dash-dot lines the position II of the picking lever 4, of the lever 145 and of the link 144 after the shuttle has been picked.

The device shown in Figs. 6 to 9 operates as follows:

The shaft 128 is rotated upon rotation of the main shaft of the loom and of the tooth wheel 125. If the strap 131 lowers the lever 132 (Fig. 8) from its upper position Ill, spring 19 and tube 133 are rotated and the picking lever 4 is returned from its end position II into picking position I (Fig. 7). The cams 148 and 149 are rotated at the same time in the direction of the arrow 158 and the lever 145 is lifted into the locking position 1 shown in Fig. 7. The lever 132 is again moved upwards upon rotation of the eccentric 129 from the illustrated position IV. Since the left end of the spring 19 is held, due to locking of the joint 144, 145, the spring 19 is tensioned upon the aforedescribed rotation of the eccentric 129.

In order to effect a pick cams 148 and 149 turn the lever 147 in clockwise direction so that the lower prong of the fork 152 presses the arm 150 upwards whereby the lever 1 and the link 144 are moved out of the locking position 1. Due to the clearance in the fork 152 the joint 145, 144 can bend downwards so that the picking lever 4 can be actuated by the spring 19 and can pick and accelerate a shuttle.

The crosshead 93 (Fig. 10) is held by means of nuts 95 of the studs 97 which are screwed into the flange 134. Slots 99 in the crosshead 93 (Fig. 11) afford rotation of the latter through a predetermined angle relatively to the flange 134 and thereby also rotation of the right end of the rod 19. The crosshead 93 is provided with one or more bores 93 (Fig. 10) for insertion of a suitable key for turning the crosshead 93. To facilitate exact adjustment of the extent of rotation, i. e. of the initial tension of the spring 19, the flange 134 of the tensioning tube 133 is provided with a mark 100 (Fig. 12) cooperative with a scale 101 on the crosshead 93. The bore 92 of the crosshead is covered by a plate 102 to prevent exit of oil and fouling of the slots 99.

Fig. 13 illustrates a modification of the drive, according to Fig. 8. A cam 160 is keyed to the shaft 128 for actuating a roller 161 on a two-arm lever 162 which is fast on the tube 133. A spring 163 assures abutment of the roller 161 against the cam 160 which rotates in the direction of arrow 1164 so that the lever 162, due to the increasing radius of the cam surface 165, is moved from position IV to position 111. This causes tensioning of the rod spring 19. The earn 160 has a circular surface portion 1&6. While the roller 161 follows the cam surface portion 166, the picking mechanism is released, lever 145 and link 1144 (Fig. 7) being moved out of the locking position. The cam surface portion 167 of the cam 161i serves for returning the picking lever 4' from position It to the picking position 1.

The advantage of the cam drive according to Fig. 13 is that more time is available for tensioning the torsion spring, i. e. that the tensioning operation is effected by rotation of the shaft 128 through a greater angle than with an eccentric drive so that the work required for tensioning the rod spring 19 is smaller. Turning back of the picking lever 4' from position II into position I does not require greater work because this movement is effected in a relatively short time and the angularity of the cam portion 1.67 can be small.

What is claimed is:

1. A shuttle picking mechanism for weaving machines comprising a torsion spring having two ends, a picking lever connected with one of said ends, holding means, connecting means connecting said holding means with one of said ends for preventing rotation thereof, tensioning means connected with the end of said spring other than the end with which said holding means are connected, and adjusting means interposed in said connecting means for adjusting the relative angular position of said holding means and of said torsion spring.

2. A shuttle picking mechanism for a Weaving machine having a stationary part, said picking mechanism comprising a rod torsion spring, a picking lever connected with one end of said spring, and a crosshead connected with the other end of said spring, said crosshead being movably connected with the stationary part of the weaving machine and affording rotation of the end of said spring with which said crosshead is connected relatively to the stationary part.

3. A shuttle picking mechanism for Weaving machines comprising a stationary part, a rod torsion spring, a. picking lever connected with one end of said spring, a crosshead connected with the other end of said spring, said crosshead being movably connected with said stationary part and afiording rotation of the end of said spring with which said crosshead is connected relatively to said stationary part, and a tensioning mechanism connected with the end of said rod spring with which said picking lever is connected.

4. A shuttle picking mechanism for weaving machines comprising a torsion rod spring having a first end and a second end, holding means connected with the first end of said spring for preventing rotation of the first end, a picking lever, first connecting means connecting said picking lever with one of said ends, tensioning means, second connecting means connecting said second end With said tensioning means, and adjusting means iterposed between said second end of said spring and said second connecting means for adjusting the relative angular position of said second connecting means and said spring.

5. A shuttle picking mechanism for Weaving machines comprising a casing, a rod torsion spring, a picking lever connected with one end of said spring, a crosshead connected with the other end of said spring, a tube having one end connected with said casing and surrounding a portion of said spring, a flange on the free end of said tube, and adjustable connecting means connected With said flange and with said crosshead for adjusting the angular position of said crosshead relatively to said flange.

6. A shuttle picking mechanism according to claim 5 comprising markings on said flange and on said crosshead for indicating the relative position of said flange and of said crosshead.

7. A shuttle picking mechanism for weaving machines comprising a casing, a rod torsion spring, a picking lever connected with one end of said spring, a tube surrounding at least a portion of said spring, said tube rotatably extending through said casing and having an end connected with the other end of said spring, a crosshead connected With said tube, and adjustable connecting means connecting said crosshead with said casing for adjusting the angular position of said tube relatively to said casing.

8. A shuttle picking mechanism according to claim 7 comprising an annular member rotatable on said casing, means for fixing said annular member in a desired position to said casing, a scale on said annular member, and a mark on said crosshead cooperating with said scale.

References flirted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 332,400 Kesselring Dec. 15, 1885 1,175,772 Kelley Mar. 14, 1916 2,160,338 Moessinger May 30, 1939 2,160,339 Moessinger May 30, 1939 2,564,383 Trautvetter Aug. 14, 1951 2,615,474 Ibanez Oct. 28, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 678,468 Germany July 15, 1939 

